Lana Wachowski
Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) is a comic book writer, screewriter, director, and producer, best known for co-creating The Matrix ''trilogy with her sister Lilly. Life and career Lana Wachowski was born Laurence Wachowski (known as "Larry") in Chicago in 1965. Her mother, Lynne (née Luckinbill), was a nurse and painter whose brother is actor Laurence Luckinbill. Her father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman of Polish descent."Andy Wachowski Biography (1967–)", ''Filmreference.com. Accessed 2012-07-19"Wachowski Brothers Reload", The World of English. Accessed 2012-07-19 In addition to her Lilly, Lana has two other sisters. Hemon, Aleksandar (September 10, 2012). "The Wachowskis’ World beyond “The Matrix”". newyorker.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012. She went to Kellogg Elementary School in Chicago's Beverly area, and graduated from Whitney Young High School, known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983. Former students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program. She attended Bard College in New York, but dropped out before graduating, because “I thought the teachers had to be way smarter than me to justify the loan...but some of them hadn’t read half the books I’d read.” She and Lilly then ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books.Miller, Mark. "Matrix Revelations", Wired News, 2003-11-11. Accessed 2012-07-19 Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowskis wrote comic books for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, namely Ectokid (created by horror novelist Clive Barker) in 1993 as well as writing for Epic Comics' Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Clive Barker's Nightbreed comic series. They made their directing debut in 1996 with Bound, and reached fame with their second film The Matrix (1999), for which they won the Saturn Award for Best Director. They wrote and directed its two sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, and were heavily involved in the writing and production of other works in the Matrix ''franchise. In 2003, they founded Burlyman Entertainment and released comic books based on ''The Matrix, as well as two original bi-monthly series: * Shaolin Cowboy – created, written, and art by Geof Darrow (with the Wachowskis contributing an opening dialogue to each issue) * Doc Frankenstein – created by Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowskis, with art by Skroce. Following the commercial success of the Matrix series, they released the film Speed Racer in 2008. The Wachowskis are collaborating with Tom Tykwer on Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of David Mitchell's novel of the same name, for Warner Bros. Pictures. Tykwer and the Wachowskis collaborated on the screenplay and are co-directing the film, leading their own crews that are working in parallel. The film is set for release in October 2012. Rumors that she was transitioning spread in the early 2000s, though neither sibling had spoken directly on the subject. In 2003 Gothamist.com suggested that "the ''Matrix films could be read with a whole new subtext with the news of the female dominatrix seen with her at film premieres." According to Rovi, Lana completed her transition after Speed Racer (2008). On some documents she appears as Laurenca Wachowski. In July 2012, Lana made her public debut as a woman, in a video discussing the creative process behind Cloud Atlas. Lana came out as a woman in February 2014. Style The siblings admit to a love for telling multipart stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Lana has said. Lilly puts her desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly, "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations.""Larry Wachowski", ''Filmbug, 2005-02-25. Accessed 2012-07-19 Future films Warner Bros. have expressed interest in Hood, a modern adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, which the Wachowskis wrote and plan to direct. They also wrote an Iraq war-set gay romance conspiracy thriller titled CN-9, however the project failed to find financing.Roxborough, Scott, "Wachowskis, Tom Tykwer Set for 'Cloud Atlas' Shoot Mid-September". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-07-19. Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction screenplay by the Wachowskis, is set to be made into a film by Warner Bros. The studio is looking for a major star to lead the cast, ahead of a planned spring 2012 start date.Fleming, Mike, "Lana and Andy Wachowski Return To Sci-Fi Action Arena With 'Jupiter Ascending'", Deadline, 2011-10-20. Accessed 2012-07-19 Bibliography Writer *Clive Barker's Book Of The Damned: A Hellraiser Companion (1991) #1-4 *Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1989) #8-9, 12-13 *Clive Barker's Hellraiser Spring Slaughter (1994) 'Razing Hell' GN *Clive Barker's Night Breed (1990) #17 *Doc Frankenstein (2004) #1-6 *Ectokid (1993) #3-9 *The Matrix Comics (2003) vol. 1 & 2 Editor *The Matrix Comics (2003) vol. 1 & 2 *Shaolin Cowboy (2004) #1-6 Filmography *Assassins (1995) writer *Bound (1996) writer/director/executive producer *The Matrix (1999) writer/director/executive producer *The Animatrix (2003) writer/producer: Direct-to-video (wrote segments "The Final Flight of the Osiris," "The Second Renaissance Part I", "The Second Renaissance Part II," "Kid's Story") *The Matrix Reloaded (2003) writer/director/executive producer *The Matrix Revolutions (2003) writer/director/executive producer *V for Vendetta (2006) writer/executive producer *The Invasion (2007) writer - additional scenes, uncredited *Speed Racer (2008) writer/director/producer *Ninja Assassin (2009) producer *Cloud Atlas (2012) writer/director/executive producer - Co-directed with Tom Tykwer Video games *Enter the Matrix (2003) writer/director *The Matrix Online (2003) director *The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005) writer/director References Category:Writers Category:Comic Books Category:LGBT creators